Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a congenital math learning disability that affects 3-7% of elementary age schoolchildren, or about 1 child in every classroom. Several other names for dyscalculia are "math dyslexia" (Morin, "Understanding Dyscalculia") or acalculia, which is "the inability or loss of the ability to perform arithmetic operations" ("Dyscalculia"). They have "number blindness" which is the lack of number sense. For example, some dyscalculics struggle with understanding why 3 is the same as three or why 2 + 2 = 4. Challenges of dyscalculia vary for every individual and influence people differently in throughout life (National Center for Learning Disabilities, "Dyscalculia").Just because a dyscalculic student is not good at math, that doesn't mean he or she will be bad at other things.

Do I have Dyscalculia? / Symptoms of Dyscalculia

• Strong dislike, fear, anxiety, and/or avoidance of math• Difficulty telling time or reading analog clocks• Difficulty remembering telephone numbers or numbers• Difficulty comprehending word problems• Difficulty keeping numbers lined up when solving a problem• Difficulty organizing work• Difficulty picturing problems (mental math or geometry)• Difficulty drawing or using a number line• Difficulty with basic math operations (+,-,x,÷)• Difficulty remembering basic math facts such as 7 + 5 =12• Difficulty regrouping and understanding the concept of borrowing• Difficulty grasping the concept that 3 apples have the same quantity as 3 oranges• Difficulty telling left from right or vice versa• Difficulty measuring objects• Difficulty managing money• Difficulty understanding math-related words such as more than, less than, or two times an unknown number

﻿The History and Causes of Dyscalculia

Salomon Henschen, a Swedish neurologist who first discovered dyscalculia in 1919, "found it was possible to have impaired mathematical ability while being perfectly intelligent in other ways" (Butterworth, "The Mathematical Brain"). Then in 1974, Dr. Ladislav Kosc identified dyscalculia as a learning disability. The cause of dyscalculia has not yet been found, but researchers have identified several factors that indicate it is a brain-based condition. (Morin, "Understanding Dyscalculia"). Since dyscalculia is the dysfunction of the area of the brain that processes mathematics, it might be caused by brain injury. Additionally, dyscalculia could possibly be inherited. Even thought there is no known cure for dyscalculia currently, students can improve their math by training.

Famous Dyscalculics

Several celebrities such as Mick Hucknall, Henry Franklin Winkler, Mary Tyler Moore, and Cher are known to have dyscalculia, but they excelled in other fields. Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin are also have rumored to have dyscalculia or a math learning disability.